Genocide Continues: New Palestinian Infant Dies of Hypothermia in Gaza

By Staff, Agencies

Another Palestinian baby has died of hypothermia in the Gaza Strip as the region ravaged by the “Israeli” genocidal war has been gripped by a cold wave over the past week.

Medical sources reported that Ali Al-Batran, who was three weeks old and under intensive care, died on Monday. He was the sixth infant to die from the cold in a week.

Ali was the twin brother of Jumaa Al-Batran who froze to death a day earlier.

Gaza's Health Ministry announced in a statement that the baby died from hypothermia due to severe cold and a lack of heating in refugee tents in the central Gaza Strip.

Since the “Israeli” entity imposed a stifling blockade on Gaza, the territory's estimated 2.3 million residents have endured severe shortages of electricity, drinkable water, food, medical services, and especially fuel for basic survival needs.

The Gaza Health Ministry said the number of Palestinian deaths due to hypothermia has risen to seven.

People in Gaza are freezing and shaking because of the very cold weather. Particularly, the ones in tents in al-Mawasi, which is very close to the beach, are intensely suffering from the cold wave gripping the region, it said.

For the second consecutive winter, the people of Gaza are enduring harsh weather as a new cold weather sweeps across the Strip.

Cold weather in the past week has caused the death of six infants in Gaza, according to local health authorities.

At least two more infants have died of what appears to be fear-related heart failure triggered by “Israeli” bombing attacks since the Israeli regime's genocidal war began in October last year.

According to medical sources, the lack of food security among Gaza's mothers has led to the emergence of new cases of illness among children, which exacerbates the health situation in light of the difficult circumstances the region is experiencing.

Director of Medical Relief in Gaza, Muhammad Abu Afash, said children died daily due to the severe cold and the lack of the necessities for survival such as food, water, and baby formula.

Abu Afash said there were no proper tents, blankets, clothes, or food for the Palestinian children in Gaza.

He said the humanitarian disasters taking place now in the Palestinian land are what had been previously warned against, sounding the alarm once more about the fatal danger for entire families inside the tents of dying from hypothermia.

Medical studies have shown that prolonged hypothermia can affect the cardiac and respiratory systems and is sometimes fatal in people with weakened immune systems.